Great Patriotic War as a state religion

Abstract

This article examines the metamorphosis of the Great Patriotic War myth into a functional state religion within contemporary Russia, analysing its central role in the ideological preparation and legitimation of the invasion of Ukraine. Drawing upon the conceptual frameworks of civil religion and memory politics, the study argues that the Kremlin has moved beyond mere historical commemoration to establish a rigid ideological system characterized by sacred narratives, institutionalized martyrology, and dogmatic infallibility. Through a qualitative discourse analysis of executive rhetoric and an examination of symbolic landscapes – most notably the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces and the evolution of the “Immortal Regiment” – the analysis demonstrates how the Russian state has collapsed the temporal distance between 1945 and the present. By framing the contemporary “special military operation” as a teleological continuation of the struggle against an existential “Nazi” threat, the state utilizes the Great Patriotic War cult to provide ontological security and moral justification for military aggression. The findings suggest that this “secular hagiography” serves to immunize state policy against internal dissent by equating political loyalty with religious piety and historical truth. This article contributes to scholarship on post-Soviet identity and authoritarian resilience by elucidating the mechanisms through which weaponized historical memory is transformed into a metaphysical mandate for contemporary geopolitical revisionism.